Periodically the software on network elements may be upgraded or changed. Various approaches are known in the arts for upgrading the software on the network elements.
One known technique is described in U.S. Patent Application 20090089774, entitled “IN-SERVICE SOFTWARE UPGRADE UTILIZING METADATA-DRIVEN STATE TRANSLATION,” filed on Jan. 18, 2008, by Timothy J. Lynch. This application discloses in part an “in-service” upgrade where new software is first installed and initialized on a backup or standby controller. The network element state is synchronized to the backup controller and control is switched to the backup controller. In this algorithm, the backup controller becomes the active controller for the network element and the former active controller is the backup controller. It is also disclosed that the network element uses metadata to translate the active state to the format used by the new software.